Suspect In Old Rusk County Murder Case Volunteers To Return

The attorney for a California lawyer says his client will return voluntarily to Wisconsin to face charges in a 1979 murder case.

Cherie Barnard of San Mateo is the former wife of the Rusk County district attorney at the time.

She's accused of planning with her former husband to kill Robert Pfeil in 1979 because they considered him a threat.

The 54-year-old Barnard refused to immediately waive extradition and made an initial court appearance in California Tuesday to begin the process. But, her attorney Charley Giesen says she'll voluntarily return to fight the murder charge. She's also accused of lying to a grand jury.

Robert Rogers resigned as district attorney in 1980 and committed suicide in California in 1984. Prosecutors say he recruited three of his brothers to kill Pfeil. Two are currently facing murder charges because the third brother revealed the plot after a grand jury was convened last year and new evidence was found.

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